Veronika decides to try

Paulo Coelho’s fantastic book Veronika decides to die is about to get the Hollywood treatment. Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, the film should be released this year. Without giving away too much of the story, it is an interesting exploration into what we could do, what we would do, if we weren’t restricted by what we perceive to be society’s rules.

I’ve seen a guy walk down Miller Street in North Sydney and start singing very loudly to whatever was on his iPod. I wondered if it was something he often did or he just needed a release. I wonder if it made him happy, and if he would have done it if there was a chance that someone on the street knew him.How many strangers that he passed assumed he was mentally ill, just because he sang along to his iPod?

How would your day be different if you decided to try something today that didn’t conform to a set of rules that you’ve always lived by? It could be work, how you speak to someone, breaking a routine … what could you do? How would it be received? What impact would it have on the rest of your day, week, life?